The 51 Most Instagrammed Places in Hudson Valley Social Media

July 18, 2016

As a creative marketing agency, we use huge amounts of social media and search data every day to do the best possible branding, marketing and website design projects for our clients. It makes creative projects that much more effective.

The places on this list had the most geo-tagged Instagram photos taken there; posts by the organizations themselves were not counted. The conclusion you can draw is that these places are popular, visually stimulating, and Instagram users (mostly millennials) want to broadcast that they’re a fan of them. It’s a reflection of real-life artistic, economic and tourist activity.

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From 1929 to 1991, a massive Nabisco factory stood on the shores of the Hudson River; after it closed, the Dia Center for the Arts bought the whole thing for $2M in 1999, and invested $50M to create its sixth art installation. A 2003 NY Times article says that the goal of this and other investments in Beacon was to create a “thriving tourist destination.” We’d say they succeeded. Like many of the places on this list, it’s appealing and accessible by people from far away (5-minute walk from Beacon’s train station), but it also has local appeal: Beacon residents get in free every weekend, and they have community free days for residents from Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.

From 1958 to 1985, a number of real estate investments were made in Mountainville, NY by two metal fastener businessmen named Ralph Ogden and Peter Stern. Their love of the landscape was mirrored by their interest in sculpture, and they decided to “explore the challenges of harmonizing the bucolic beauty of the landscape with the drama of the sculpture.” The thousands of Instagram photos taken here is a testament to the other-worldly sense of place that has been created over decades, with over 100 sculptures in 500 acres of land. They also have partnered with Coach USA and Zipcar to make it easier for people from NYC to travel the 60 miles to the center.

Hunter Mountain is both a ski resort and a larger mountain that’s home to many trails and the highest fire tower in the state. The resort also hosts events like Taste of Country and Mountain Jam, and the state’s largest snow tubing park. With ridiculous views everywhere you look, thousands of people on vacation, and giant events, it’s no wonder this is the #3 most Instagrammed place in the area.

Mohonk Mountain House has been a top regional destination since being built in the 1870s. It’s ridiculous how many resorts and hotels were being built on top of giant mountains back then. Some of the most popular places to take a picture here are at Mohonk Lake, the Lemon Squeeze hike, or on the ice skating rink. Like many of the places on this list, it appeals to both tourists coming from far away, and locals who need to get away for a day.

Mohonk had over 5,000 photos taken exactly at its mountain house, and about 250 more taken at Mohonk Lake.

90% of Instagram users are under 35, so local colleges are going to be well-represented on this list. SUNY New Paltz has the highest local enrollment, a really robust arts program and the Samuel Dorsky Museum, which all provide lots of photo fotter. It’s also laudable that the school knows its audience and uses social media not just as SUNY New Paltz, but also with department-specific accounts for the cafeteria, bookstore, study abroad programs and more.

The CIA is the second-most Instagrammed school that we looked at, because “pics or it didn’t happen” applies doubly to culinary students. It’s also got a gorge campus on the Hudson River, four public restaurants and even a student brewery on campus in partnership with Brooklyn Brewery.

Bard College is located in Red Hook, and like every college around here, has a beautiful campus that community members can enjoy with events like Summerscape, the Spiegeltent, and the Bard Music Festival. A popular target for photo-takers is the Fisher Center designed by architect Frank Gehry, who also designed things like the Guggenheim Museum and the EMP museum in Seattle.

The summit at Mount Beacon is the other big picture to take in Beacon behind Dia. To get to the trail, it’s about a 1.5 mile walk from the train station, and then a steep mile-long hike to the top that passes the ruins of an old casino, hotel, railway and powerhouse and ends up at a fire tower. In the winter, hikers can rent spikes at Mountain Tops Outfitters. Scenic Hudson maintains the trail and summit along with the Mount Beacon Incline Restoration Society, which is seeking to restore the railway to its former glory of helping differently-abled people up the mountain.

Mohonk Preserve was founded by the owners of the Mohonk Mountain House, and is a nature preserve with over 165,000 visitors a year, 16,000 members, 400 volunteers and 8,000 acres of mountains, forests, and hiking trails. It’s a neighbor to both the Mohonk Mountain House and Minnewaska State Park. It is NY’s largest not-for-profit nature preserve, and the most-visited climbing climbing destination on the East Coast.

Minnewaska State Park opened in 1993 and is now visited by about 300,000 people a year. Plans are underfoot to increase the parking capacity to about 350 cars, which is welcome; it’s a total bummer to drive all the way out to a mountain and not be able to get in. The park contains 22,275 acres and is most popular for biking, hiking, swimming and running. Events such as the SOS Triathalon and the Rock the Ridge Trail Challenge take place here.

The Shawangunks, aka “The Gunks” got their name in a tragic way, from the burning of a Munsee Indian fort in 1663 by Dutch settlers. Shawangunks translates to “that which is smokey air,” and refers to an area with over 750 miles of trails, 20+ unique hikes, and touches on parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rosendale, Ellenville, the Mohonk Preserve, and Sam’s Point Preserve.

People that grew up in the Hudson Valley in the 70s and 80s remember what Sam’s Point Preserve used to be: an attraction called Ice Caves Mountain. It was guided by what was then known as an “audiocassette tape” and “tape player,” and you’d go past abandoned berry picker shacks, through the ice cave, and up to a lookout point, and hear a story about a man named Sam who jumped off to save himself from pursuing Native Americans (he survived). There was mini-golf and and a gift shop at the end. It was awesome, and I’d give anything to have a copy of that cassette tape (described in this 1995 NY Times article). The preserve is back open after a devastating fire this spring.

The Phoenicia Diner is the biggest outlier on this entire list. It’s not a college, a mountain, a music venue or a giant restaurant on the Hudson River. It’s a diner tucked away in a sleepy town on Route 28, with great interior design and menus, satisfying food, and writeups in The Guardian, Vogue, Thrillist and Elle. We always say they’re one of the predominant businesses driving new interest and tourism in our region, because every photo they post has people tagging their friends and making impromptu vacation plans in the comments.

In Rhinebeck, the Dutchess County Fairgrounds is home to the Dutchess County Fair, the Country Living Fair, the Sheep and Wool Festival, the Rhinebeck Car Show, and most importantly, Beer, Bourbon & Bacon. If you like walking around, eating food, and buying stuff from vendors all at the same time, then there’s probably an event for you at the fairgrounds.

The Woodstock Animal Farm Sanctuary is devoted to raising awareness of animals who have been harmed from cases of abuse or neglect. In 2015, they relocated to High Falls, NY, and host tours from 11-4 every weekend where you can look at and often touch their chickens, cows, ducks, goats, pigs, rabbits, sheep, turkeys and more!

Built at the end of the 1800s, the Vanderbilt Mansion is one of the oldest Hudson River Estates. In addition to tours of the mansion itself (which is a time capsule into the life of the 1% during the Gilded Age), visitors get free roam on the gorgeous grounds, including a three mile loop hike that goes right past “streams, waterfalls, gardens, woods and picnic spots on the river,” according to the excellent Hike the Hudson Valley.

Located in Highland, Rocking Horse Ranch has been a family-owned business since 1958 and is internationally-known as a family resort destination, but also welcomes daycationers. They offer a full range of beginner to advanced horse rides, as well as demos and less-scary wagon rides. There’s also an indoor waterpark and a bunch of complementary activities and entertainment for families. In 2015, Tripadvisor ranked them as the #1 all-inclusive resort in the entire country.

Basilica Hudson is the second reclaimed factory on this list. This old glue factory in Hudson was purchased by Patrick Doyle in 2000 and gutted and refurbished; a number of events and benefits were held there until 2010, when it was bought by the group that eventually formed the Basilica Hudson non-profit organization. With about 7,000 square feet of space, they now put on film, music, art, food and community events, including Basilica Soundscape, a much-anticipated three day September music festival that will feature Explosions in the Sky and others. The Observer described last year’s event as “the rare festival where the audiences are actually engaged, the artists are present and everybody wants to be there,” taking place in a “church of sound.”

The Ashokan Reservoir is the largest and deepest of several upstate reservoirs that ensure that New York City has drinking water. It connects to the Catskill Aqueduct, which goes slightly downhill for over 90 miles from Shokan to White Plains… even crossing under the Hudson River, 1100 feet below sea level. It’s a monument to one of the most complicated and costly infrastructure projects in American history: $185 million was spent in 1900s money, 25,000 acres of land was seized/bought, cemeteries were dug up, thousands of people relocated, and thousands more were killed or injured working underground. But it’s pretty! And the water is great for making bagels.

The Overlook Mountain House was originally built near Woodstock in 1833 to cash in on the first boom of the Catskills tourism industry. It was incredibly high up and inconvenient, especially by 1830s standards. Like most local hotels built on top of mountains, it burned down several times and the grounds were eventually bought by the state; visiting the ruins is amazing exercise. There’s also a fire tower at the top of the mountain.

This is part of a cluster of historic estates in Hyde Park. FDR’s father bought the property in 1866 for $40,000, and the future president grew up there, eventually using it as a retreat and second headquarters during his presidency. FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt are both buried on the grounds, which were turned over to the U.S. Department of the Interior upon his death. It’s also home to the first-ever presidential library.

We already talked about Hunter Mountain, which is host to Mountain Jam. Enough people identified with “Mountain Jam” instead of Hunter Mountain while at the festival that it made it onto the list at #26. The Jam started in 2005 and attracts upwards of 15,000 attendees annually, who see 50+ bands across three stages in a four-day festival. They had Beck and Wilco this year.

After looking at art in an old Nabisco factory, visitors to Beacon can travel 1.5 miles inland and stay in a boutique, 40-room hotel set in a reclaimed textile factory. They also have a restaurant with a patio and lounge area that overlooks the Fishkill Creek, and an event space that holds up to 200 people.

The Mount has an enrollment of around 2,500 students, and about 1,000 of them live on-campus in Newburgh. It’s been a regional academic institution in the Hudson Valley since the 1850s, when the entire college was crammed into a single Victorian building called “The Villa.” Today, more than 50% of their students attend the college for its nursing and healthcare programs.

Ellenville’s Honors Haven Resort is one of the last surviving vestiges of the Catskills Borsch Belt. It used to be called the Fallsview Hotel, and adjoined/was operated by the owners of the legendary Nevele Hotel. As American culture became more integrated and air travel became more common, the Borscht Belt painfully lost its reason to exist, but Honors Haven seems to have escaped the fate of other contemporaries like Grossingers and Kutsher’s. Lots of people are still going there and taking Instagram photos! Meanwhile, the Nevele sits in limbo as a ProSports Campus is being vetted.

Bonticou Crag is part of the Mohonk Preserve, which is higher on this list, but so many people specifically tagged the Crag that we had to include it too. Hike the Hudson Valley has an excellent guide about it here… it’s a six mile rock scramble to get to some of the best views in the Hudson Valley.

The Saugerties Lighthouse was built in 1869, replacing another lighthouse that only was around for 30 years. After falling into disrepair, a non-profit called the Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy took over in 1986 and has managed and restored the property. It has two very unique bed and breakfast rooms that are available for $250 a night, tours, and a half-mile nature trail.

This is the first landmark on our list where there is no Instagram account associated with it. Since so many people are taking Instagram photos here, it would be a great idea for Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy to create an account and start engaging with all of their fans!

Washingtonville’s Brotherhood Winery is the oldest continuously operating winery in The United States, producing its first vintage in 1839. The barrel in the picture above is a popular Instagram photo for those who visit for tastings and tours. They also put on events: in late August, they’re holding a Wine and Sangria Pig Roast.

Held in June, Taste of Country Music Festival is also held at Hunter Mountain, and is billed as the the Northeast’s only multi-day camping country music festival. In 2016, they had artists like Kenny Chesney, Jake Owen and Kid Rock, and over 50,000 people were said to have attended in 2015.

The Bonura Hospitality Group has pretty successful formula: open up restaurants and event spaces with sweeping views along the Hudson River. Another one of their restaurants, Shadows on The Hudson, made our Poughkeepsie’s Most Instagrammed Places list, and they also own Blu Pointe in Newburgh. As for Billy Joe’s in Newburgh, it’s located right on the waterfront and has indoor/outdoor seating and bars stocked with libations to wash down things like Brontosaurus Beef ribs.

Standing for “Horses In The Sun”, HITS is a major reason that Saugerties’ Exit 20 on the Thruway is backed up on summer and fall weekends. Tom Struzzieri opened HITS as a $15M “build it and they will come” project in Saugerties. Thousands of riders and horses flood the village every year to compete in eight weeks of shows like the $1 Million Grand Prix, the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final and the HITS $250,000 Junior/A-O Jumper Prix. In 2011, Struzzieri also opened the Diamond Mills Hotel & Tavern in Saugerties, capitalizing on the demand for luxury hotel rooms that he helped create.

Bannerman Castle was built by Francis Bannerman VI, who ran a successful military surplus business in the 1800s. After the Spanish-American War of 1898, he purchased over 90% of the Spaniard’s leftover guns, ammo and equipment, and needed safe place to put all of it. He did what any logical person would do in this predicament: he bought an island on the Hudson River, and built a castle. After he died in 1918, a bunch of the ammo exploded, and government regulations made selling military-grade weapons to civilians inconvenient. bannerman island Today, the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation owns the island, while the Bannerman Castle Trust offers hard-hat tours through the property.

Also, it made an appearance in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, when it was one of three locations (along with Angkor Wat and Hong Kong) that transported Cyberton to Earth (watch).

It is the second location on this list that doesn’t have its own Instagram account; since so many people love taking pictures here, it’s an easy opportunity to engage with people and gain support. About 700 photos were taken here.

Starting in the 1800s, Long Dock Park has been home to a rail ferry terminal, oil terminal, salt-storage facility and a riverside junkyard at various times. In 1996, the non-profit Scenic Hudson acquired the property, and according to Hudson Valley Magazine, “more than 75 truckloads of scrap metal, old tires, and other trash were removed from the former oil storage facility/junkyard site in order to make way for native plants and grasses, restored wetland areas, and a patio space created with salvaged concrete slabs (which at one time were part of the decking on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge).

Originally, it was part of a larger plan to create a “$40M development that included a hotel, conference center, restaurants, spa, shops, harbor, public waterfront, a park and network of hiking trails,” but as various parts of that plan fell through, Scenic Hudson still pulled together close to $9M in financing to make a beautiful waterfront asset.

The Graham & Co. is billed as an “update on the classic weekend away”, and is a successful contemporary of places like the Phoenicia Diner, Foxfire Mountain House and Gaskins as super-concentrated doses of “curated authenticity,” a phrase that our friend (and Uptown Kingston Grupo Habita advocate) Adriana Kertzer once said. The accommodations include access to a swimming pool, hammocks, badminton, fire pit, picnics, bikes, all within walking distance of Phoenicia. Design Sponge published a great early look at the hotel in 2013.

Brotherhood might have been continuously operating for longer, but Benmarl Winery is #1. They literally have NY State Farm Winery license #1. Located in Marlboro, Benmarl has a tasting room with incredible views of the Hudson River, and they also have a bed & breakfast and host lots of picturesque weddings.

Their former owner, Mark Miller, is renowned in the wine world for being a “highly visible public advocate for small artisinal wineries,” and also for making the case for Hudson Valley wines to be taken seriously. His 1984 memoir, “Wine – A Gentleman’s Game,” is available on Amazon.

Newburgh Brewing Company was founded by a veteran of the finance world who repurposed a brick warehouse in downtown Newburgh to open a brewery. It’s no vanity project; Newburgh Brewing Company has an impeccable reputation in the world of beer, and even won a CNBC design contest for “Most Loved Beer Label.” They have a great open space with picnic tables and views of the Hudson River. Also, our friend Sean Murray did an awesome label for their “The Hessian” beer.

Peekamoose Blue Hole is a tortured example of when destination marketing actually works. Locals have forever loved it, but in the last decade, articles about it have been shared literally hundreds of thousands of times, and it’s in many government tourism brochures and websites, creating a runaway freight train of tourism. Information about $175 parking tickets, overcrowding, litter, and other issues is somehow not nearly as viral, leading to the DEC issuing emergency regulations for the Blue Hole this spring. According to the Watershed Post, the new regulations seem to be working.

There are only eight legal parking spots here, and it’s way out in the middle of nowhere, so only go at weird times and weekdays.

Foxfire Mountain House was originally built in 1914. In 2013, its new owners bought the property and were able to navigate the scrutiny of the Shandaken Planning Board and a painstaking renovation process. From their about page, they transformed a dilapidated building into “your globe-trotting uncle’s family estate.” It has 11 unique rooms, with a stone fireplace, sheepskin rugs, a pond, bonfire pits, and an outdoor pavilion.

The Bearsville Theater is the biggest music venue in Woodstock and is part of a property that also includes the Commune Saloon, the Bear Cafe and a Chinese restaurant called The Little Bear. One of our most treasured concert experiences was seeing Gene Ween Does Billy Joel there last year.

Daryl’s House Club is Pawling’s lone representative on this list; the Daryl in its name is for Daryl Hall, of Hall & Oates fame. Formerly known as the Towne Crier, it’s a restaurant and live music club that’s also planning on expanding to an outdoor concert venue that could accommodate more than 1,000 people. It opened last year as a real-life extension of Daryl Hall’s award-winning “Live from Daryl’s House” webcasts, where he “plays with his friends and puts it up on the Internet.”

Located on a 600-acre site in Kerhonkson, the all-inclusive Pinegrove Ranch and Family Resort is right by Minnewaska State Park and offers horseback riding, restaurants, a pool, mini-golf, and boating.

I am so happy to see these really cool things, since moving away in 1997… It makes me homesick! I love that the original Town Crier in Pawling, has been revived! So many amazing meals and performances there..including a surprise birthday party once upon a time! Will be checking out many of these spots when I visit. Thanks!